As I rummaged around the "Tiki Drinks and Food" threads, I found that some of them were a bit cluttered and some of them had a bit of...uh...tension going on.

Now, I am of two minds on this. On the one hand, just because you're a Tiki-ista, doesn't mean you can't enjoy Mexican or Bulgarian or East Elbonian food without losing your Tiki License. On the other hand, there are lots of other places where people can get information about BBQ or pasta, etc., but bloody few places where we can find information on Tiki food.

So I decided to do the Goldilocks thing. Start a couple of threads for people to post details exclusively on Tiki food (and I will NOT go down the rabbit hole of trying to define it ) so that those who seek such information can find it in an uncluttered way. This thread, for example, is all about posting individual recipes for particular Tiki foods. I've set up another one for people to post their links to articles and recipes for Tiki food. Other food related posts can go wherever else they normally go.

2 cups oak (or hickory) wood chips, soaked for as long as you can stand it, 15 min. at least

A- Marinate Chicken. Combine water and soy in a large bowl. Heat oil in large sauce pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir into soy sauce mixture. Add chicken and refrigerate, covered, for at least 1 hour or up to 12 (8, if you are using "regular" soy sauce).

B- Make Glaze. Combine pineapple juice, sugar, soy sauce, ketchup, vinegar, garlic, ginger and chili-garlic sauce in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer until thick and syrupy (you should have about 1 cup), 20-25 minutes.

C- Prep Grill. Seal wood chips in foil packet and cut vent holes in top. Open bottom vents on grill. Light about 75 coals. When coals are covered with a fine gray ash, spread evenly over the bottom of the grill. Arrange foil packet directly on coals. Set cooking grate in place and heat, covered with lid vent open halfway, until wood chips begin to smoke heavily, about 5 minutes. (For gas grill, place foil packet directly on primary burner. Heat all burners on high, covered, until wood chips begin to smoke heavily, about 15 minutes. Turn all burners to medium-low.) Scrape and oil the grate. You can use the broiler, sans chips, if you absolutely had to.

D- Grill Chicken. Remove chicken from the brine and pat dry with paper towels. Arrange skin side up on grill (do not place chicken directly above foil packet). Grill, covered, until chicken is well browned on bottom and meat registers 120 degrees, 25-30 minutes. Flip chicken skin side down and continue to grill, covered, until skin is well browned and crisp and thigh meat reaches 170 to 175 degrees, 20-25 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to platter, brush with half of the glaze, and let rest 5 minutes. Serve, passing remaining glaze at table.

On 2010-10-11 21:14, MauiRose wrote:Hey jokeiii, how about posting that "oven fried" crab rangoon recipe you mentioned in the Tiki Food Sightings thread?

Here you go, because I live to benefit humanity:

Oven-fried Crab Rangoon

8 oz. neufchatel cheese, at room temp (you can use regular cream cheese, but I find all that butterfat dulls the delicate crab taste)
8 oz. crabmeat, drained well (get "backfin" crabmeat...the "lump" is really expensive and all those lovely nuggets of crabmeat will shred away anyway...do NOT get the stuff in the tuna can section)
4-5 scallions, VERY thinly sliced...you cannot slice them too thinly (you can also use chives)
2 garlic cloves, mashed into a fine paste
2 t. Worcestershire sauce (L&P, natch)
1 t. soy sauce (San-J low sodium)
2 dashes hot sauce (I like original Tabasco)
1 pkg. wonton skins (should be 48 of 'em)
¼ c. melted -- but not clarified! -- butter (you need the butter solids in order to get proper browning)

1 In a bowl, mix all ingredients except last two. GENTLY. You don't want to break down the cream cheese, otherwise it will be too runny.

2 OK. This part requires you to visualize. Put bown that tumbler of LH151 and pay attention. Put a wonton skin in front of you, in such away that it's in "diamond" mode and not in "square mode" that is, the bottom corner is pointing at you. Think of it as a baseball diamond. Place 1 t. crab filling JUST below the pitcher's mound.

3 Take a small (clean!) brush and moisten the edges of the wonton with water.

4 Fold the wonton in half to form triangle, pressing edges firmly with a fork to seal. Pat them down to get them reasonably flat. The less "domed" the better. Try to squeeze as much air out of these as possible. The steam from the filling will puff up the whole packet, and if there is any extra air, it could pop, oozing filling out onto the hot baking sheet and burning. Have you ever smelled burned crab? You don't want to.

5 Brush wontons with melted butter, lightly but evenly.

6 When you have assembled them all, arrange on baking sheet that has been buttered and preheated (this is key). You want the wontons to sizzle a bit when you put them on.

7 Bake in 425ºF/220ºC oven for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

NOTE: When you set your oven's temperature the only thing I can guarantee is that it will NOT be the temperature you set. 90%+ of all ovens run colder (Like mine, by about 15 deg.) or hotter. Buy a cheapo oven thermometer -- why a cheapo thermometer is more accurate than an expensive appliance is a discussion for another time and place -- and adjust accordingly.

8 I like a chile-lime-hoisin sauce, but nonetheless these are delicious on their own.

On 2004-07-31 11:51, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:Since several people have been asking for this recipe, and since I've just finished making a huge batch for Doctor Z's party tonight, I guess it's about time I got around to posting it. Here is the secret recipe to:

Combine all ingredients, except chicken and coconut (and skewers of course), in a saucepan and heat while stirring until boiling. Reduce heat to medium/low and allow marinade to reduce somewhat, (about 15 minutes), stirring occasionally. Put chicken breasts in a pan and pour most of the marinade on top, saving a small portion in a container for later. Make sure both sides of the breasts are coated with the marinade and let pan sit in a refrigerator at least 2 hours (I leave mine overnight).

Toast the coconut on a baking sheet or shallow pan in a 350-degree oven, turning the coconut with a spatula periodically so that it is a light brown. (dark brown works too, so don't worry if it's overdone).

Grill chicken breasts until done but tender, brushing with the marinade in the pan. Slice breasts in thirds lengthwise. Skewer each strip on a wooden skewer and brush with the reserved marinade you had set-aside at the beginning. Roll in toasted coconut and serve on Ti Leaf. Makes 12 skewers.

You don't have to increase the marinade proportionately for larger quantities. For today's batch of 50 chicken breasts, I multiplied the above recipe by eight. I also used two 10 oz bags of shredded coconut.

Combine all of the ingredients above and bring to a boil, adding cornstarch to thicken. Soak the bamboo skewers in water to avoid burning. Place 3 pieces of beef on each skewer and cook on the grill 3 minutes on each side or until desired doneness. Brush with sauce and serve.

EDIT - I was making this last night, had 5 pounds of meat to cook so I doubled the sauce recipe and ended up with WAY TO MUCH sauce. You could probaly cut this recipe in half if you're just making a pound or two of skewers.

On 2010-10-15 20:41, MadDogMike wrote:I hope this doesn't bring the wrath of the Tiki Police down on this thread but the Bengal BBQ is only 100 yards away from the Enchanted Tiki Room so hopefully I'm OK.

To be 1000000000000% sure we're safe from the Tiki Police, you need to post the recipe for the Chieftain Chicken Skewers; with its (delicious) "Polynesian BBQ" sauce you'd be above suspicion for treasonous and anti-Tiki behavior. In fact, Kevin Kidney would probably custom-sculpt something to bop any benighted accusers over the head with.